What Are the Key Elements of Resource Management?

People, Plan, and Time

Resource management is defined as the efficient and effective deployment of an organization's resources when they are needed.

There are 3 main elements to resource management:

The People.

The fact that people are ultimately responsible for project success is the most important thing to remember about resource management. Your skills like communication, leadership and emotional intelligence are vital. It’s your job to not only provide direction but also to inspire and motivate. Great PMs combine project management tools and people to produce a collaborative and successful environment.

The Plan.

Every project, no matter the size, needs a plan. Before you begin the project, you have to sit down, think through and gather up the pieces of the project, and get them organized into a plan. Small projects might only require a list of tasks but large projects will need lists of lists. Break it all down, consider what all will be needed and prepare your requests for those needs.

The Time.

We’ve all heard the saying “time is money.” In project management, the easiest way to lose control of a project is to ignore your utilization. It’s impossible to know exactly how long each step of your plan will take to accomplish. As you become a more experienced project manager, you should be getting closer on your estimates but there will always be deviations. As each step is completed, you must check and compare the time spent to your estimate. Are you on track, behind, ahead? Two out of three of those choices require additional effort on your part. If you are ahead, you might have to adjust resources or schedules. If you’re behind, you better be analyzing why and letting your client know.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Angela PM is the executive leader of Project Insight’s virtual project management team known as VirtualPM™. She is a natural born leader and of course, Project Management is her passion. Angela is a Project Management Consultant with over 15 years of experience managing complex website projects. She has worked her tail off to become the best professional in her industry. Many in her field respect, admire and even fear the amount of dedication and detail she puts into her work. Her expertise, coupled with her positive and straight-forward attitude make her the perfect person to get industry insight from.

Online 3/19/2018
Angela PM
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